


The Hamster

by Pachitastic



Series: Bees, Empathy, Telepathy [7]
Category: Tokyo Demons Series - Lianne Sentar
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-08
Updated: 2015-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-25 09:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4955818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pachitastic/pseuds/Pachitastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not particularly shippy, but still AU OT3 'verse.</p><p>Kadoyuki bringing home a hamster seemed like a great idea-- at first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hamster

**Author's Note:**

> I'm never sure what to do with tags on this site. Do I tag for all the ships, even though this one doesn't really GET shippy? It's the OT3 'verse I write in, but there's no kissing or romantic shit. It's barely even implied. What do??
> 
> I've had this idea for awhile. Enjoy! TW for suggested animal cruelty, I guess.
> 
> ETA: Apparently I accidentally pasted this twice before? Oops! It's been fixed, sorry about that!

For a time, Kadoyuki had stayed inside as much as possible, avoiding the outdoors and all the thoughts that he would hear. Being given the opportunity to stay in such a quiet room, he was glad to take it and make up for the years of buzzing in his mind-- the dreams and violence that were never his own. He embraced the silence, and was quite reluctant to return to the hell that existed outside.

But then Sachi knocked on his door one day, thoughts full of hope and nerves, and he handed Kadoyuki a box.

“I thought you might be going a little crazy in here, and I saw these at the store…”

_“I hope these work. The reviews all said they did…”_

“... And thought that they might help quiet things outside too. They’re supposed to cancel out any noise, and if you’re listening to music, no one can hear it.”

From there, Sachi’s thoughts turned to desperate muffling as he cut himself off and tripped over his own thoughts, desperate to smother his silent voice. Kadoyuki examined the box, popping the tab out and carefully removing a pair of headphones from the box. They were slate gray, huge in Kadoyuki’s hands, and very well padded. He couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“Thank you, Sachi.”

Three little words and Sachi absolutely _beamed_ , his thoughts instantly a flurry of excitement and relief.

“I’m glad you like them!”

He went back to smothering his thoughts.

Kadoyuki tugged on the headphones a bit, getting a feel for how they flexed and expanded before putting them on, adjusting them over his ears and reducing Sachi’s thoughts to flutters at the very edges of his world. Kadoyuki was simultaneously impressed, and a little guilty. These were nice-- too nice to be cheap, and the Church wouldn’t fund something like this. Which meant that Sachi had paid for it, and his daycare job really didn’t pay much…

Even so, Kadoyuki felt a little excited at the prospect of being able to go out and not be drowned in the sea of everyone else. He got up from his bed, focusing on that feeling and gently squeezing Sachi’s shoulder as he passed him.

He could see Sachi’s mouth move, his eyes bright with happiness, but he couldn’t hear a damn thing.

* * *

He didn’t bother to tell Sachi where he was going-- it wasn’t like that mattered. Kadoyuki had his phone and Sachi never hesitated to text him to ask if he was okay if he was worried. Digging through his pockets, he found his MP3 player and turned on some quiet, classical music. To his delight, whatever he could of people’s thoughts before was gone, replaced by nothing but soft flutes and the deep vibrations of a bass. 

The first day, he explored near the apartment before going further, reveling in the impenetrable silence.

* * *

Kadoyuki would never say he was a _fan_ of animals, but he liked them a lot more than he liked people. People talked and talked, even when they weren’t, and animals just squeaked and ran around. He liked cats the most, with how relaxed they were and how much they slept, but dogs were good too. At least, dogs were good as long as they weren’t climbing onto him constantly.

One of the days when he was walking, he came across a pet shop he had never really paid much attention to before. The sign in the window promoted something about safe breeding practices, with a tank underneath it housing a couple of sleeping kittens. Taking a gamble, he stepped inside and started looking around, careful not to linger too long at any one place. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself and he definitely didn’t want to be talked into taking _any_ of these animals home.

He turned off the music and took his headphones off after a moment, finding that it was quiet enough to leave them that way. He especially didn’t want anyone sneaking up on him. One way or another, he would be able to hear someone coming.

Coming across the rodent section, he watched mice scurry over each other and saw rats sleeping in little plastic domes. In another box, there was a flurry of teeny, tiny hamsters running around, tunneling and one, for whatever reason, repeatedly running and jumping off a wall. They were cute. He watched them for a minute before he moved on, pausing again when he saw a smoky black and grey hamster stuffing his cheeks full of food and then burying it elsewhere, over and over. The methodical madness reminded him of a single per--

“Are you interested in the hamsters? They’re pretty cute, aren’t they?”

A young woman stood beside him, wearing a work uniform and now taking a moment to look at the hamsters herself. 

_“I wonder if he likes syrians or dwarf hamsters more… both bite. Is he going to buy them or is he one of those people that thinks it would be funny to feed them to a snake?”_

Kadoyuki definitely wasn’t going to feed them to a snake, but an idea was forming in his mind…

“I am. I’ve never really had any pets before though.” He answered, focusing on the black hamster again.

“Oh, really? I grew up with more pets than people in my house. Do you know anything about hamsters?”

“Not really. I know they bite sometimes.”

She giggled a bit, “Yep! They’re still kind of wild. Nowhere near as feisty as wild hamsters, but they’ll bite you if you scare them or if they think you’re food.”

Kadoyuki nodded, looking between the cage with the black hamster and the running ones.

“Is there a reason this one’s by itself?” He pointed to the tank with the black hamster.

“This little guy is a Syrian hamster. They’re perfectly good with people, but very territorial. Even during mating season, you have to be really careful to make sure they don’t try to kill each other. Dwarf hamsters on the other hand are extremely social and get really lonely if they’re by themselves. But even then, sometimes they get a little violent…”

Kadoyuki’s gaze fell on the black one again, trying to tune out her thoughts of half hamsters being returned to the store.

“How much for this one?”

* * *

 

Stepping through the doorway, Kadoyuki regretted not calling Sachi to help him bring this stuff home. 

“Kado! Ayase’s coming home later tonight-- What’s that?” Sachi stepped out of the kitchen, curious at first and then excited.

“I didn’t know you liked hamsters.”

Kadoyuki shrugged. He didn’t really.

Sachi didn’t bother asking, simply taking the box with the tank out of Kadoyuki’s arms and walking to the bedroom with it.

“Were you planning on this?”

“No. It just seemed like a good idea.”

Lie, lie, lie. Old habits die hard.

Sachi wasn’t bothered though. Sachi didn’t notice.

He set the tank on the bed while Kadoyuki set the box with the hamster on his desk.

Sachi, even eager, continued the conversation, “Did you name him yet? Er, her?”

“He’s a boy.” Kadoyuki remembered the clerk picking up the hamster and casually pointing out its disproportionate genitals.

Sachi started to open the box with the tank, happy and cheerful. He was happy to see Kadoyuki with a pet. Maybe it would do Kadoyuki some good.

“So... is a name on hold then?”

“No,” Kadoyuki gave the hamster a gentle little pet, watching it scurry away and then make a hissing sound.

“His name is Touya.”

“Wh-- What?”

For the first time since Kadoyuki had known him, Sachi’s thoughts lapsed into genuine silence.

“I- I’m gonna… I’m gonna go finish dinner.”

* * *

Kadoyuki spent a few minutes preparing the cage and then once Touya was securely _in_ the cage with his food, bedding and something to gnaw on, Kadoyuki opened up his laptop and started researching, based off of what the cashier had told him. She wasn’t so bad to listen to. Her thoughts were nothing but hamster facts, though sometimes it turned to unfortunate memories. Overall though, she was pleasant. 

There was a knock at the door and Kadoyuki turned in time to see Ayase open the door, peeking in quietly.

“Hey. Sachi told me you got a hamster…”

_“A hamster named Touya. Why Touya? Why a hamster? What is this--”_

Ayase quickly trained her thoughts on anything but the hamster.

“Have you been doing okay?”

“Yeah. Sachi gave me noise cancelling headphones.”

“I’m glad um…”

She was looking at the hamster again.

“I’m gonna go help Sachi…”

“Okay.”

Kadoyuki didn’t pay her any mind, simply returning his attention to Touya. Carefully, Kadoyuki reached into the cage and cupped the black hamster in his hands. A little pink nose sniffed and twitched, nibbling on Kadoyuki’s skin.

Such a small, fragile little creature, capable of tearing his enemies to pieces and eat them if he felt like it. He hid the things most important to him and dug tunnels that no one could navigate but him.

He could bite Kadoyuki hard enough to draw blood, but Kadoyuki could crush the hamster in his hands, or starve him, withhold water, any number of things. The hamster wasn’t so deadly and dangerous then.

Knowing that he could kill the hamster without much effort was fucked, to say the least, but it was okay to feel that was, wasn’t it? He wouldn’t really kill Touya the hamster. He was better than that. He would take care of the little creature. Touya the hamster trusted Kadoyuki to do that, so he would.

Kadoyuki wouldn’t betray something powerless beneath him.


End file.
